30 Charities Take Ads in Final 'News of the World'

About 30 British charities agreed to News of the World's offer of free advertising in Sunday's final edition of the scandal-plagued tabloid, according to Third Sector Online and CNN.

Profits from sales of the last issue of what was Britain's best-selling Sunday paper will be split equally among three organizations–the children's charity Barnardo's, the Forces Children's Trust, and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity.

Many U.K. charities turned down the weekly's offer of free ads, made after Rupert Murdoch's News International abruptly decided to close the 168-year-old newspaper amid revelations that its reporters hacked the cellphones of celebrities, politicians, crime victims, and military families.

Mike Hammond, CEO of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity, said he saw “no reason why we shouldn't have accepted” what he said would be a six-figure gift from News of the World. “It’s one that will benefit a lot of families.”

A spokesman for the Disasters Emergency Committee, which advertised in the last edition, said the charity “in no way condones the unconscionable behavior” of some News of the World staff members but considered it imperative to take the opportunity raise money for victims of the East Africa drought.